Contributed by baker2gs. Posted by aubin on Friday, August 7, 2009 at 7:00 PM (EDT)

Poker News recently spoke to Fat Mike of NOFX about the famous poker games that take place at the Warped Tour. Mike explained:

This year there is nobody, in any of the bands, who is good. There are some good players, but they're just people who work on the Warped Tour. Matt (M. Shadows) from Avenged Sevenfold is good and so is Davey Havok from AFI. Then you always have Fletcher (Dragge) from Pennywise. He lost $13,000 on our last game in 2006. He lost money to Kevin (Lyman, founder of Warped Tour), Nick (Hexum) from 311, me, and Davey Havok. Since it was the last game, that night had a $1,000 buy-in. I was the bank so I kept giving him markers. At the end of the night I went to his manager and told him Fletcher owed me $13,000. He didn't even think twice, just opened a box and handed me the money

I actually dislike that song. I felt that it was a super weak opening track. Took a little too long to get going and the whole build up wasn't all that interesting to me. The outro to Last Light is amazing. Overall a good record but I def liked Domestic a lot more. I saw that as a perfect demo.

It's suuuuuuuuuper good. A lot less songs like Me and My Friend Rad, Eat Your Death, Leader In Generic Punk. A lot more songs like Ample Bright and The Everfading Afterglow. I love it. I'm sure you will too. It's hard to describe the difference between the albums but there is a huge one. The guitar riffs just sound way different. I wish I had the right words. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Yeah, for some reason that doesn't sit well with me. So many musicians forgo steady paychecks, health insurance, and having a real home in order to barely scrape by on tour, it seems really wrong that these guys laugh about losing, oh, half of my annual salary in one night of poker.

you don't think all of those bands did that for 10-15 years before they started making money?

and again - i don't think it was fletcher's money, i think it was the bands' money, and the band has to pay management, tour managers, merch guys, guitar techs, etc. so that money will get spread pretty thin.

I could take or leave most of those bands, but if you read the interview, it says $100 - $200 a night, not $1000. That was probably just that night. It is still weird that Fletcher has that much dough to cough up though. That was so many oughs.

Even after expenses, those dudes make BANK. Same with NOFX. Both bands have some sort of forcefield of punk rock cred around them for some reason, when, the reality is, they're still around because they make so much money.

well, no. rock against bush was in relative terms an equally self-serving affair. how about at the end of each poker game, all the winnings (or at least a major portion of them) goes into a pot which is then given to a local homeless shelter or youth centre as a donation. these pricks clearly don't need the money, so give it to people who do.

why? because they already have millions of dollars in the bank; as a gesture alligned to the punk rock spirit, as an act of decency, philanthropy even? Giving something back to the towns they play? Maybe that would be a bit too human and un-self-interested for the warped tour though.

Do you ever spend money on anything frivolous? ever? Could your apt be slightly smaller and cheaper? Do you own a car when you could just take the bus?
Well if you do, you're a horrible person, because you're living above your means and you should be giving away any extra money you have. Jeez, what a greedy capitalist pig.

Fat Mike probably has a house payment, car payments and he's raising a kid who he probably would like to send to college one day.
And I bet Fat Mike gives a lot to charity already anyway.

hahaha!! You just described me roommate. He's a Mexican low rent Stapp, complete with weird rocker boots with buckles and those annoying affliction syle shirts. He loves poker and is actually pretty good at it. He came home from Vegas with like $2000 profit.

Yeah I've tried to play poker a couple times, without money thankfully, thought it was still pretty fun though. It's mostly about having fun with friends, really. Roulette with a bunch of your friends can be an absolute blast, even if you lose $100. Ahh, the days when I had $100.

I'm all just sittin' here, level 14 Sandshrew, whatevs. To the left, my buddy Ekans. Any minute now, after this bicycle chump passes, we goin' up 'round nugget bridge to grab our homie Abra den head south 'side tha daycare to take on some fuckin Meowths. We bad, we bad.

i was thinking the other night, how difficult my life would become if i broke my right hand/wrist/arm. My sex life would be the same but I don't feel I could open a door with my left hand, let alone write some legible.

Preston, I tried to watch Port of Shadows last night but it was scratched half way through, so I should get a replacement tomorrow. I'm watching Children of Paradise tonight though, so I'll let you know what's up.

As someone who enjoys playing poker, I thought that was a pretty cool interview. He seems to know what he was talking about, and that's pretty cool that he got to play a celebrity tournament with some pro's like Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly.

the threechords one was just based from the last.fm group that was just pissed that stuff at punknews disappeared when there were good discussions going on. the way punknews is maintained is good for a news site, bad for a discussion one. message boards fit better for people that want to debate.

ok, this whole sellout thing is SO old and it's not like it matters anyways, but i do take offense to your comment of "Well guess what, they sucked before and they still suck now. They are a bunch of dumb schwags that can't play their instruments." have you ever -- and i mean EVER -- heard the blink 182 song "M&M's?" it contains one of the hardest guitar riffs i have ever heard in ANY song, outside of some of that ultra fast speed metal or whatever. try playing it, it is HARD. and carousel is no picnic to learn, either. just because they are cooler than you or i will ever be is no reason to hate them. besides, they aren't funny at all offstage. i interviewed mark at warped 98 [you can read the review at adkg.com], and he was the most serious, BORING person i've ever met. it's just an act for MTV. anyways, stop talking shit about their playing ability, at least until *you* can play M&Ms.

Seriously? That song isn't hard AT ALL. I think anyone that plays guitar seriously for more than 6 months could play that. Call it arrogance but I think anyone on the org that seriously plays guitar will agree with me.

Big lulz. I play guitar. I did not write this. Both "M+Ms" and "Carousel" are some of the easiest songs to play ever (not that they're not fun though). I guess a post from the year 2000 is too far back for most of you to remember. I fail. I won't tell you who it is though, you have to guess.

Haha, I wasn't there at the time (I think I started frequenting the site around 2002) but it's from Scott Heisel. I read it today and it made me laugh my ass off. Especially the part about speed metal, hahahaha.

that was the first stuff i used to get drunk on regularlay. that and smirnoff ice. I used to hate brew. Now I love it. I tried drinking a smirnoff about a year ago for old times skate and it was like sugar city.

Since it's Guinness, it's worth it. I had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, chicken drummies, an Italian BMT at Subway, and two big ass slices of pizza in the course of the day. I think I've had plent of weight attached already.

By the way, I'm really getting into Beggars. I still don't think it's as great as TIOS or Alchemy or even TAITA but I like it a lot more than I did when I first heard it. Now I'm hoping they don't publish my negative review, haha.

haha I love how you still threw in that last line for arguments sake. I WOULDN'T KNOW HOW BEGGARS SOUNDS because I'm waiting till October to BUY it and get it in every day rotation as you know. Thrice in August? No way. Thrice can only be listened to in Fall, Winter and in some cases, Spring. Never summer though.

This may be why I enjoy it more as time goes on (getting closer to Fall), because I completely agree. In fact, I feel the same way about Brand New. I got into Deja over Christmas time and it was magical. And, I listened to TDAGARIM for the first time on Thanksgiving. So I know what you be sayin'.

THE BEST albums by Thrice to listen to in the fall/winter. They are all great to listen to but those two especially. The only one I could see going out of fall/winter is Identity Crisis. When did I listen to YFW you ask? Summer! When it was meant to be heard. Could you imagine listening to super happy immature pop punk in the winter? pfftt

I don't see how "Failure By Design" is super happy. That album is immature though, and in the best fucking way possible. Again, didn't like most of Vheissu, but what I did like, I got into in the fall as well. I'd say Artist ("Paper Tigers" especially) and Fire/Water are best for Fall/Winter. Water is also great stoned at the beach at 6AM.

I was just thinking about how how some bands/albums are so serial seasonal today at work. Even though we don't have much of one, I can't wait for fall. At least for the time change. Cold crisp blue melancholy late evening sky ftw.

Seriously though, what kind of music do I like? I like a little of everything. It's really hard to figure out what kind of band I want to start. I would be fine with just seeing what comes out, but then what do I put in the Craigslist ad? Help!

None of us joked seriously with him. Key word, JOKE. Don't say fuck people like them when you don't know them. You're an asshole. And I'm justified saying that because you basically said "fuck you" to me. Get over it.

Learning to play by ear is absolutely the most important thing to playing music to me. As someone who also does this, I commend you for the hardwork that it usually takes. Unless you're just a prodigy, in which, you can go fuck yourself. But alas...

Ha, I'm no prodigy. I'm just really good at the limited stuff I know, because I've been playing the same things for 10 years (kinda). I guarantee you're better than I am. I play in my own tuning, learn songs the wrong way (but they still come out), and rely on 80's metal taps to woo the ladies.

Yeah I'd def feel weird emailing them about that. It's cool. I'm actually not going to see them in August because of money issues. But I should catch that Ruiner/CIS/PBC/Strike Anywhere show and I'll check it out if they play it.

Only thatsyouth could stare at a guitarist's hands in the dark while sweatypunx sweep him into the sea of mosh and lights of various colors flash across the stage, and figure out what the fuck he's doing with his little finger for one chord.

"When I go to Vegas I play the $500 tournies at the Wynn or the Bellagio. It's pretty easy to get into the money in those games."

Those games aren't exactly drawing the super-sharp players like a 5-10 or 25-50 NL cash game at the Bellagio would, but they are very tough to beat. Lots of good players, and not a lot of donks most of the time. If he can consistently make money in those games he is much better than he is letting on.

I get the backlash against gambling here even though I work in a casino and bet sports every day of the year. I'm a hypocrite. I'll whine about bands looking for a hefty advance, a 7" that seems a few bucks high, etc just like everyone else. And minutes later I'll be betting what is a lot of money to some here on a WNBA game. Not so punk. Whatever.

totally different, they played tons of traditional stuff, and they busted out some really old ones like Far Away Coast and Barroom Hero, and they played God Willing, which they hardly ever play and that's one of my favorite songs by them, and they did Amazing Grace which hasn't been in their setlist recently

Today dlangl4 bought me half a dozen albums that I've been looking for for ages, I still want to listen to Frank Turner many more times, Chuck Ragan just leaked, I got my usual half a dozen albums today... luckily I have no life so I've been able to get it all listened to at least once.

one of the worst things ever is when an independent film sucks balls badly. there are so many good indies. but when an indie sucks, it's just bad. worst than studio films sucking, or B movies (which are mostly independent).

Yeah it's amazing, and In The Loop is awesome too
I'm looking forward to Inglourious Basterds, and The Goods also, I don't know about District 9 though, I think it's going to get overpowered by some of the Sci-fi films coming out later this year

James Cameron is directing Avatar (and no I don't even like Titanic) but supposedly the budget for this film is like $300 million dollars and it's about a war between humans and ET creatures, and it's supposed to be the biggest advancement ever in special effects (and I'm not one of those people who go apeshit over movies just because of the special effects) but this really sounds like it's going to be amazing
yeah I obviously still have to see D-9 I really don't have high expectations for it, but who knows it could be amazing

so i barely started watching the doom generation. the funniest line is spoken by a far worst actor than keanu (although he was alright as frank in donnie darko). "I feel like a gerbil smothering in Richard Gere's butthole. "

so even though I'm going through an Asian fetish right now, I still get the most action from Hispanic girls, but some of them barely speak English so it's hard to even talk to them, and they keep saying that I need to learn Spanish, should I learn Spanish? or should these bitches learn English?

I'd say the worst thing about Facebook, besides my mother's friend request, is the fact that I always get constant reminded on girls that I had crushes on. No matter, how fleeting the crush was, I still see status updates, events attending, etc.

And I've never Facebook stalked, but even on the main page I can't escape it.

No, however...
I tend to just cut contact with my ex's once we break up. It just makes it a lot easier that way. But they know how to real me. Anytime they have a status update and they mention ska in some way I can't help but reply. That's how the reel me in.

i think, like i said THINK, the reason why the latest propagandhi record wasn't released on fat was because Fatty Mike was to interested gambling in Vegas despite putting the best record on this year on his label. i don't know maybe i heard wrong

There is this local band around here called The Mumps and I mesasaged them earlier telling them they didn't have to re-relase Milo Goes To Colelge because it already came out, They responded telling me I'm not that good at guitar(a couple of the guys went to the same school as me) and that I think I'm a bad ass because I listen to Thrice. listen to them. And message them how much tehy fucking blow.

Homeowners who have lost their homes.
Each testifies to their sad, tragic story. Some are victims, others just made bad decisions.

Cut to workers getting pink slips.

A recessions on, each recounts the wariness of what comes next.

"I lost my pension, my home, thousands of dollars in lost wages"
"I had my car repoed, couldn't make the payments"

Close-up on guy off to the side, long hair, quiet.

"Me? I lost some poker hands to a dude, Fat Mike. BRO! haha, but seriously, I got more than 13,000 in my fucking bong, so fuck it, whippits!"

There just aren't enough black flag t-shirt wearing photo ops to scrub clean the bullshit that is modern music. No raw quantity of Fat Mike interviews or songs wherein he waxes on warmly about the scene, fans, music, or partying can make enough of a case that bands, and in fact music itself, is at the point where it is, categorically, overrated......

.....except for propagandhi. They can still shred your face. Categorically.